Shattered Circuit
by Vullet
Summary: Being literally stabbed in the back would have been better than this. a revolver redemption arc copied from ao3 under the same name


He'd always known that people weren't very trustworthy. But he didn't really have any other choice, considering it was the only way anything could go back to normal.

At this rate though, he'd never trust anyone again. Being literally stabbed in the back would have been better than this.

Specter always had somehow gotten on his nerves. His dragons sensed something was wrong with them. What was the point in trusting someone if your only real friends couldn't even figure them out? They were always right back then, before everything crashed.

Those winds of the Data Storm called out to him. He'd never entered VR when they still existed. They said unseen monsters lived with the storm, so maybe that was why it called out to him. When he was little, others would call him weird for "hearing the voice of his cards". They only grew stronger over the years though. In his eyes, not having an ability like that must have been really nice. But they were always there for him when other humans couldn't be.

It's presence was like nothing he felt before. This creature that should be his enemy felt like a reflection right back at him. It called out to the other's dragon. They both weren't really dragons though. But as much as he didn't want the card, it was the only way he could win that duel. His opponent was terrified of him, but was also the only duelist he could get a challenge out of. Those intense green eyes felt emptier than anyone else he'd met. But the opponent only battled for one goal: revenge. Revenge for something that he'd never caused, that he'd never known about, that wasn't his choice. But those dragons mirrored their owners in that battle, giving it their all. Yet he still lacked the strength to defeat them.

Playmaker.

The dragon kept calling out. It wanted its revenge on the other one, but it wasn't worth listening too. It was a much stronger presence than he'd ever felt from a monster. But it was still a Cyverse. It was still the enemy. There was no point in turning back anymore. He was stronger than this creature...right?

It seemed that it could sense the other. He still needed Ignis. He still needed to defeat Playmaker. Even if he couldn't stand what this dragon truly was, it was a useful tool to him.

A long time ago, they'd made a promise that if anyone got a Cyverse, that the person would leave. He couldn't hide it.

Specter had planned it anyways. But it still hurt.

He failed. There was nothing left for him. He couldn't care anymore.

It's not like he had ever been a good person anyways.

When he was little, he'd always wanted to be a Charisma Duelist. The fact that those people could cheer up others so quickly with their dueling spoke to him. Maybe if he made himself known, others would finally believe that the monsters spoke to him. His dad was always out, apparently in the VR world. But that didn't matter. He still had the cards.

He'd learnt that dueling wasn't as safe as it seemed to be, even in the real world, when he was classified as a Psychic Duelist. And a strong one, at that. Physically materializing monsters...how was that possible? In the past, a system known as Solid Vision allowed people to battle with their monsters physically in person. But that was broken.

Almost the entire past of dueling had faded now. Rarely anyone dueled in real life, you never saw any D-Wheel...but that didn't matter to him.

His older brother had always told him maybe if he could Speed Duel, he'd find enjoyment in duels again. That was the last thing he ever heard from his brother, before they seemingly just disappeared out of his life.

And then he lost his father as well.

A joke thought of "all I have left is my dueling" echoed through his head. But there really wasn't anything he could do of his free will. So he became what he feared for so long. A duelist.

Whoever there was before was gone. All there was anymore was this. _Revolver_.

Playmaker came back after him. They wanted a second battle.

Those dragons fought again, but the results were the same. He couldn't understand why this happened, he wasn't even an enemy anymore. Just somebody as empty as the other.

"You know, I have to admire how good of a duelist you are for somebody who doesn't like dueling," Revolver commented as his life points dropped to zero. Playmaker didn't respond.

"I'm not with them anymore, they left me because of that dragon I gained to fight you."

"..."

"I swear, I-"

"...Who's in control?"

Revolver gulped. Sure, he'd like Specter as dead as the other, but he didn't want anyone else he once considered an ally to be hurt.

"I don't think it's safe to tell anyone here. Anyway we could...interact in reality?"

"...I suppose."

"You invited somebody to here, of all places, oh great Playmaker?~ You do realize it could be ANYONE who buys a hot dog here...or even looks at her-"

"Eye, shut up."

"Whatever you say," the AI sarcastically responded, before noticing a seemingly familiar person.

Yuusaku would know those earrings from anywhere.

"...You're him, right?" Revolver commented. Yuusaku only nodded.

"Yuu," Yuusaku only commented, not revealing his full name. That'd be a bad move on his end.

"...Rev. I barely remember my old name anyways," he trailed off, looking down.

Yuusaku didn't bother to question it. "So, who's leading now?" he only asked, blankly.  
"You shouldn't just ask something like that!" Ignis exclaimed, paranoid.

"...Specter. That's all I'm going to tell you."

"..."

"I can't. I'm weak. I'm an idiot who's been trying to do something I know I can't for so long."

"...Took the words right out of my mouth," Yuusaku only muttered, as Revolver felt massive doubt over his last spoken words.

"Yuusaku, what are you doi-" Kusanagi Shoichi's sentence remained completely unfinished at the sight of Revolver.

"...Great. I can't believe it. I come to interact with the Playmaker and I get hit with people I thought were dead. Shoichi, if you goddamn thought I was the one missing. I have ne-"

"Wow, the sibling reunion we've been waiting for Yuusaku. This is fucking glorious, if I had a mouth I'd ask for popcorn," Ignis interrupted, obviously getting a kick out of this.

"What the hell happene-"

"Call me anything but Revolver and I'll throw my dragon at you."

"Wait. Kusanagi-kun, your brother is…..him?"

"...Did you think I knew, Yuusaku?" Shoichi looked almost disappointed at his friend. Yuusaku rolled his eyes, sighed, and gave an expression that basically said "I can't believe you and the [former] leader of our enemy are related".

"...I feel a strong dislike towards all of you now. Even you, Revolver," the final name came out of Shoichi's mouth with disgust.

"Oh, but nii-san, it's not like I fucked you up physically and mentally with a dragon that's conveniently also a gun."

"Extra as all hell. Just like your VR form," Ignis remarked. Revolver and Yuusaku were both one more word from Ignis away from deleting him.

"...Ignis, why are you like this?" Revolver only glared at the eye now, who began to whistle as if nothing was wrong.

"Ignis?"

"Oh, forgot. You guys were calling him Eye."

Well, re-encountering his brother was hitting Revolver with flashbacks that he really didn't want. Every single time he'd dueled. He'd always ended up causing real damage, Speed Duel or not. Yet there wasn't anything else he wanted to do.

"I'm weak," Revolver told himself, before feeling a slight nudge. A pretty much entirely black dragon with green highlights was trying to rub against him. He could also feel all those smaller ones, be it similar to a gun or not.

"Great, all of you guys are here to rub it in. I hate all of you."

Twin Triangle Dragon pretty much hit Revolver as if it was fighting another monster.

"Revolver: LP 4000 - 1200 = 2800. Fucking thanks," he only commented to his weakest Link, literally, before he felt that exact thing he didn't want to feel.  
"Varrel Load, don't. Ever. Interact with me again."

Varrel Load Dragon didn't care.  
"LEAVE ME ALONE, DAMMIT!" Revolver yelled, attempting to get rid of literally his entire deck worth of monsters.  
Well, that was one way to stop being annoyed.

"...I know you're still here, Cyverse," and with that, a mechanical head nearly the size of it's duelist lied down. "...Topologic Bomber Dragon. The reason why this all started. But I still can't hate you at all. We're more alike than I think, I guess."  
It's response was a low growl, as if it was giving a "yes".  
"Heh."

"Rev! What the hell are you doing, challenging a Knight!?" the voice of Blue Angel yelled over the ear piece.  
"Relax, my avatar's different, and it's not like I even really dueled in the first place. Only that one asshole should know my deck," Revolver shrugged mid-duel, almost losing his balance. "Sniffing Dragon and Gateway Dragon attack for game." [Knight of Hanoi: 2400 - 800 + 1600 = 0]

WIN! REV

The stop of the D-Board was greeted with a very pissed off Blue Angel and a less pissed off GO Onizuka. "You're an idiot, you do know that, right!?"

Even with goggles, the other two could tell Revolver was smiling with his eyes. He did that on purpose, just to annoy them, right?  
"Remind me why Playmaker is even working with you," GO sighed, disappointed.  
"Because I, the great Revolver-sama, have very valuable information and know how to restore Ign-Eye. I mean Eye."  
"Shut up."  
"Wh-"  
"...Do you WANT to find out?"  
Trickstars were an extremely scary deck to even tag duel with. He wouldn't take any chances.

"You know, do whatever the hell you want without me. I'm just holding you guys back."

"..."  
"Face the truth, you two. I'm the problem here. So you're best leaving worthless me and helping him. After all, I've fucked up every single chance I've had until now."

"You know, the fact that you're still here proves you still have some sense of hope," GO said.  
"Yeah, and you aren't the worst person. Honestly, I'd say you're better than my brother had you not formerly lead his enemy…" Blue Angel trailed off, but snapped herself back into reality.  
Revolver was quiet. He didn't really know how to respond to compliments, mostly because he'd never really be talked to like this in years.  
"Uh, thanks? I guess. I don't care," he said bluntly, and tried to nudge the three of them away from the current topic.  
It's not like they really cared about him anyways.

"Rev, are you okay?" Shoichi had been letting Revolver come along with him on his quest to sell hot dogs for a living, because of course, they were siblings after all.

"Yeah. For sure, I just-" And with that, Sniffing Dragon accidentally manifested itself. "Never mind," Revolver took the chance to avoid the question, by playing with his duel monster. It was almost like a cat.

"You can't keep ignoring your problems. It'll only hit you harder in the back later."

"Well, I tried to directly solve them and look what I've got! Oh, that's right, I'm wanted by the people managing the LINK VRAINS and by the people they want me for! Thanks a shitton, Specter."

Shoichi couldn't really respond. He hadn't experienced whatever his brother had. This conversation wasn't really his business. He hadn't been constantly fighting for the past five years, only to lose everything in minutes.

"I'll fight him for you if that'd make you feel better."

Revolver only laughed. "Do you EVEN have a VR account? And if so, can you even due-"  
"Who taught you and Yuusaku to duel in the first place?"  
"Oh."

"You know, you remind me a lot of Yuusaku now. Both of you are so distant from people, and yet you're great at reading others, while he's not. However, Yuusaku doesn't completely pretend to be dead to a biological family me-"  
"Shut up! I thought you were dead! I'm nothing like Playmaker, you should know this!"  
"You're denying it," Shoichi grinned at his little brother, who was extremely frustrated.  
"I hate you."

"Things have changed. I'm out of the Knights of Hanoi, my brother's surprisingly alive, and I'm allies with Playmaker. But even still, that dragon keeps speaking to me. And I guess I'll still fight alongside it if I can get revenge on that person."  
The dragon nudged him, and he only pet the creature on the head. Even through hell, that stupid ability would never go away.

He was glad he had it now. Because sometimes, his dragons could be better friends than real people.

"Rev. You're coming with us? We plan to go after Specter," Fujiki Yuusaku commented, blankly. Revolver only smirked.  
"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Unless I was dead. But I'm not. So let's go after him."  
Topologic seemed happy to exact its revenge on the person who hurt it's duelist.  
"I feel the same, Topologic," Revolver only said, before grabbing his duel disk.  
"Into the VRAINS!"


End file.
